Sony fires back at Tencent over its knock-off Horizon game 'Light of Motiram'

In late July, Sony filed a lawsuit against Chinese publisher Tencent, alleging Tencent's game "Light of Motiram" copies key elements from Sony and Guerrilla Games' Horizon franchise, including story, characters, art style, and branding.

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Sony made three claims for relief across seven instances of harm, and pushed for a judge to force Tencent into admitting it allegedly infringed on Sony's Horizon intellectual property. Furthermore, Sony demanded that Tencent destroy all promotional material that infringes on the Horizon IP, along with paying $150,000 for each instance of infringement. Furthermore, Sony seeks costs, expenses, and damages.

These allegations were addressed by Tencent, which altered the Light of Motiram's Steam page, including the removal of specific screenshots and modifications to the game's description. Additionally, Tencent fired back with a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that Horizon franchise developer Guerrilla Games had admitted that Horizon was not an original idea.

• Read more: Tencent wanted to make a Horizon mobile game, but Sony refused them...twice
• Read more: Sony sues Tencent for copyright infringement, alleges Light of Motiram copies Horizon franchise

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"Tencent remarkably contends SIE's claims are unripe because - despite having announced and continuously promoted its game for months - Tencent (purportedly) delayed Light of Motiram's release until 2027 after SIE sued. This is nonsense. The damage is done, and it continues."

Sony has now responded to that motion to dismiss with a new filing, in which the company calls Tencent's defense "nonsense" and states that Tencent's continued promotion of Light of Motiram has already damaged Sony. Furthermore, Sony accuses Tencent of playing a shell game with its companies in the lawsuit, as Tencent's response included a statement stating that Sony shouldn't be suing Tencent, but rather Polaris Quest and Aurora Studios, both of which are subsidiaries of Tencent.

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"Although the public expressed confusion and outrage upon discovering Light of Motiram for the knock-off that it is, Tencent remained undeterred. Tencent continued promoting its infringing game over SIE's objection, and Tencent refused to accept any responsibility over its conduct."

Sony also claims that Tencent has infringed upon Sony's trademark as the protagonist within Light of Motiram closely resembles the protagonist from the Horizon franchise, Aloy, which is a symbol of the PlayStation and Sony brand. The protagonist within Light of Motiram was so much a "lookalike" to Aloy that "numerous journalists and Horizon fans noted the striking similarities between the ALOY Character Mark and Tencent's use of the Aloy lookalike, stating Tencent's lookalike 'resembles Aloy to a tee, red hair and all.'"

"After SIE was forced to sue, Tencent attempted to avoid liability by playing a shell game with its brands and entities. Tencent tried to shield Defendants that it owns and/or controls from service of process and now seeks to escape jurisdiction over the parent entity, Tencent Holdings."

"Tencent Holdings describes its own business as having a Games division that 'own[s] Aurora Studios' - the Light of Motiram development studio. Tencent Holdings reports all of its revenue and debt from games on its annual report without attribution to any subsidiary. And it uses the name Tencent to advertise its games, like Light of Motiram, without distinguishing between subsidiaries.

Insofar as Tencent Holdings is in fact operating the gaming business through subsidiaries, it is controlling them. Tencent Holdings' senior management includes Ma Xiaoyi, who Tencent Holdings represents 'is responsible for international publishing of Tencent Games.'"

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